NEW DELHI — Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat, died on Wednesday, along with 11 other persons, after an Army chopper carrying them crashed in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu.
Confirming the news, the Indian Air Force tweeted, “With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident.”
The crash took place shortly after the Mi-series chopper took off from the army base in Sulur.
Earlier confirming the crash, the IAF tweeted: “An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.”
Rawat’s wife was a native of Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, and she was the daughter of late politician Mrigendra Singh.
In a series of tweets, the IAF said the Gen Bipin Rawat was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course today.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that he is “Deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu”.